Pad Sea Ew: guest blogging at Rasa Malaysia

It's about time I reveal this popular recipe. I have been wanting to publish this recipe forever and as I was attempting it, Bee from Rasa Malaysia invited me to be a guest on her blog. I have been following Bee for a while. Her blog is an encyclopedia of Asian recipes. I have made a couple of dishes from her recipes and I always visit her blog when looking for Asian recipes, especially South East Asian.

When Bee asked me to guest blog on Rasa Malaysia, I immediately said yes. I hope you will enjoy it. Check out the recipe on Rasa Malaysia.

Morning Glory

Two weeks ago, I went to Loy Kratong festival at Thai Temple in Del Valle. Loy Kratong festival falls on the full moon of November. People will make Krathong, or a floating flower that is originally made by folding banana leaves into petals and secure them to a "floater" usually made from cutting banana trunks into rounds. The floating is a way to thank the river and to let go of any anger and resentments. It is a big festival for Thai people. There are big events going on all around the country especially in the north of Thailand in Chiangmai.

A lady brought in a huge bag of Morning Glory and laid them on the table for sale. "Those were just picked a few minutes ago", she said. Immediately, I thought of two perfect dishes to make with them and bought a couple of bunches to take home with me. Morning Glory or Ipomoea aquatica, is an aquatic plant grows in water or in soil that is next to water. It is considered a noxious weed by USDA because of its invasive nature. I think it should be fine to grow these in a pond or contained water space in your backyard. You can buy these at Asian markets around town. Stick the stems in water to sprout roots if you want to try growing them. Our family used to live on the river and these grow everywhere in our "front yard". I can totally see how it gets out of control if let loose in natural water sources like lakes. They are called by different names from water spinach, swamp morning glory or in Thai "Pak Boong".

I made two dishes out of these Pak Boong. The first is sour curry. The recipe is from the previous post on Gang Som.



I fried Salted Black Fish or Pla Salid to go with it and I was back home again.




I also made Pak Boong Fai Daeng or Red Flame Morning Glory, literally.



You usually see this dish done by street vendors. Some vendors make it into a show to attract customer by throwing the stir fried dish in the air and another person catches it with a plate and serve it. It's a pretty fun scene to watch. This dish is super easy to make.

stir fried Thai Morning Glory

1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 bruised chillies
4 cloves garlic, bruised
2 qt bite size Morning Glory
1 tsp soy bean paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup water or stock







Heat up the oil in a pan, fry garlic and chilies until fragrant, add vegetables, soy bean paste, soy sauce and water and stir fry until vegetables are wilted. Check seasoning and serve immediately over rice.

Spicy Rice Balls

For the past months, I have been making these delicious rice balls for many events. They are easy to make, very economical AND they are so delicious. They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The lime leaves are really the key for these rice balls. The recipe is adapted from Fish/Chicken cake recipe that I posted a while back. You can roll them up and freeze them until you are ready to fry. I like to use jasmine rice because they are fragrant and a little softer than other rice without being too sticky. Make sure your rice is hot when you combine the mixture so that they are easier to roll.



Here is the recipe

4 cups hot jasmine rice
2 tbsp red curry paste
1-2 tbsp soy sauce ( I prefer Thai soy sauce but you can also use the Japanese Tamari especially if you are looking for gluten free soy sauce)
a pinch of sugar
2 kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin strips (roll the leaves lengthwise and thinly slice them)
oil for deep frying

Combine all ingredients in a bowl except for the oil, taste to see if you need any adjusting. If it becomes dry, just add some water so they are easier to roll. Heat up the oil on the stove or use a deep fryer, fry until golden about 3 minutes.

bountiful seafood with Thai seafood sauce

Last month, I got a chance to join the Oyster Club for their kick off event at the Plant at Kyle. Our very own Roberto San Miguel from San Miguel Seafood brought in fresh oysters, shell and heads on shrimp, and different kind of fish.





When it comes to seafood, nothing beat the ultimate Thai seafood sauce. I sent the sauce ahead of me for people to enjoy with their fresh seafood. The recipe is easy and consists of



4 red or green fresh Thai chillies, minced (about 2 tbsp)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp chopped cilantro with stems

you can make it as spicy as you want by adding more chillies in there. The event was a success and I had a blast. It was good to see some old friends David Alan from Tipsy Texan and Jeffery Lorien from Zhi Tea.